This invention relates generally to internal combustion engines and, more particularly, to a device, interposable between the carburetor and intake manifold for enhancing vaporization and intermixing of the air-fuel induction mixture to provide both improved fuel economy and reduced emission of pollutants in the engine exhaust.
It is well known that enhanced combustion efficiency can be achieved by increasing vaporization of the fuel in the air carrier and by improving the uniformity or homogenization of the fuel-air mixture delivered to the combustion chambers. Heretofore, many devices have been proposed for realizing either one or both of these objectives.
Some prior art approaches have taken the form of variously configured screens, blades, deflecting plates, and the like which are disposed directly in the air-fuel flow path to effect atomization either through direct collision and physical disperson of the fuel droplets or by imparting a swirling or turbulent movement to the mixture. Other approaches have provided a heating element in or adjacent the combustion mixture intake passages to preheat the mixture immediately before induction into the engine.
Typically such devices have included electrical elements or fluid conduits through which heated engine coolant or exhaust gases are circulated. While devices of this latter type have been somewhat effective, they have not proven entirely satisfactory. One serious drawback of these known devices is over-heating of the air-fuel mixture which results in a reduction in the density of the mixture. Such loss of density produces an enrichment of the mixture which degrades not only fuel economy but also the quality of the engine exhaust, i.e., the extent of the pollutants contained therein.